……I just spent about 3 hours fiddling around with register.com’s Do-It-Yourself website builder.

Sounds simple, right?

Well, it’s not. Not by a long shot. The settings for the layout of the website design options are proving to be a real pain in the ass. Either that, or i am simply not talented enough to excel at use of the software.

However, since this is a dollar project on a dime budget, I shall have to use this service until I’m on a triple digit budget and can hire a techy to do my damned website for me!

At least I have SOME sense of layout & design & programming/coding…

Yet…I can make no great promises as to what you can expect from a website designed & implemented by yours truly.

I plan on posting some free stories (as file downloads, scroll-downs, etc) as well as contests for those uber-affordable Vistaprint mugs, mousepads, t-shirts, etc! So follow directions and enter my contests to get yourself some Amanda M. Holt swag when I announce the contest(s)!!!

Now that i’ve given up on website design for the evening, I intend to work on some manuscript revision — and maybe even some new stuff!!! *squee!!! New stuff is my favorite! Most frustrating but also most favorite!!!*

Sincere Regards & Happy Reading!

Amanda M. Holt

Amateur Authoress & Nurse with another 24+ hours off before returning to work!

p.s. – Reaper I – V and I and VI will be available at Kobo soon for the Kobo eReader!

…….as soon as I got back from China, I was put back to work immediately (lol).

Literally: I arrived in Thompson with my bus delayed approximately three hours and thought that I would be able to catch up on some sleep. When I woke up, I saw that I had a text message — my Manager, asking if I could work a Night shift THAT night.

I said “yes” (I rarely say “no”), and thus began a whirlwind week at work, where I got two revisions done during my one day off and some down time :).

Now here I am, on a brief break during a night shift, announcing that I am revising my manuscripts and doing the necessary formatting to make them suitable for Smashwords (Autovetter).

With any luck, on my two days off this weekend I will be able to have the following titles available at Smashwords:

I am going to revise the manuscripts whose contracts have terminated at both New Concepts Publishing and Extasy Books and make them available on BOTH Smashwords.com and Amazon.com. These include:

Of Crimson Blood and Ivory Skin (M/F/F paranormal erotica)

Blood Song: The Captive (paranormal erotica)

My Experimental Years (M/F, F/F erotica novel-length)

Tales From the Owner-Operator of the Boulevard Motor Hotel (BDSM erotica)

The L-Word (M/F short erotica)

Tomorrow, Part One (sensual fantasy, novel-length)

As many of these manuscripts need some serious revision and possible redirection, it’s hard to say when ALL of them will be released.

Suffice to say, I will start with the Shades of Grey series, and work my way from there.

I also have a NUMBER of projects on the go that are beginning to call for my attention with voices raising in agitation, so it is possible that my creative energies will be spent breathing life into some entirely new stuff in the near future.

It would be nice, however, to get Shades of Grey Book 3, 4 and 5 out before Halloween, as well as Reaper 6.

…going to be gone approximately two weeks, so I will not be putting out any titles during that time.

After I return to Canada, likely over the weekend of April 6 – April 8, 2012, I am going to be releasing Her Man (contemporary romance), Getting Lucky I: Pedro & Eddie (interracial erotica), and Shades of Grey: Prologue & Shades of Grey: Hear No Evil (paranormal/thriller/horror/adventure) at Smashwords.

Currently, they are only available as Kindle titles. I am uploading them to Smashwords so that they can be distributed to Kobo, etc., on multiple formats/platforms. I also have some titles that were previously available only at eXtasy Books (and I believe some from New Concepts Publishing) that I will be releasing at Smashwords and Amazon/Kindle in the near future.

New works are in development, but between my full time nursing career and the editing & re-release of Second Editions, I am finding it difficult to make/find time to give those projects the full attention they deserve.

Up next? Shades of Grey III: See No Evil, Reaper VI: Lust, and the first *brand new* novel in a series I am working on about things that go bump in the night here in Northern Canada…..that’s all i’m saying about that project, it’s very near and dear to my heart, and I am developing it with the kind of slow, cautious consideration and cossetting that one rations for their most worthy of hobbies…

I’m actually very shy about speaking about it, and when I do, I seem to use very reverent language in a sort of breathless incantation resembling whispers of awestruck self-delusion about genius approaching infamy…

Anyway — on to China!

Wish me luck!

Sincere regards & Happy Reading!

Amanda M. Holt

Amateur Authoress, Neophyte Tourist and International Woman of Mystery (?)

……as soon as my arrangements through Kindle Direct Publishing reach their 90-day agreement deadline, I am going to be uploading my books to Smashwords — again. Shortly after uploading to both Amazon and Smashwords, I saw Amazon’s KDP offer for their Prime program/Owners Lending Library, where for each borrowed novel you recieved a percentage of the total borrows sales. I now feel that being able to attract readers from platforms other than the Kindle is far more advantageous than limiting my audience to Kindle users (Smashwords uses and distributes to far more formats — readable by Kobo, etc).

Some of the books currently available on Amazon will not reach their 90-day exclusivity until the end of May. Others have already “expired” and I did not “roll-them-over” for another period/term.

Anotherwords, some of my previously Kindle-only works are going to be appearing on Smashwords shortly.

Also, I have a number of titles that i am going to be issuing as Second Editions and re-releasing in the next few months, as well as some brand-new never-before seen titles that are slowly typing themselves into existence…

I am going to try to release at least 1 title ever 1 – 2 months.

I am no longer going to be making my titles KDP exclusive. I want to reach a broader audience, and even though Amazon’s market is far larger than Smashwords (at least their reach seems to be wider), Smashwords will make for greater accessibility of my work (which is what I am striving for).

My apologies to any readers I may have alienated for my choices in the past, and to Kindle Prime readers who likely will no longer be able to get my novels for $0.00 after the 90-day terms end.

Thank you for your time.

I look forward to giving you hours of entertainment in the near future!

Lil ol’ me

I'm a published Canadian author of contemporary and paranormal romance and erotica (eBooks thus far!), aspiring to become a household horror icon...There's a lot of writer's anxiety and elbow grease (or rather, risk of developing carpal tunnel) that precedes getting published - and this is my blog all about it!